Book of Hajj: Sa’y between Safa and Marwa and the Day of Tarwiyah

1. Beginning the sa’y at Safa

ثُمَّ يَخْرُجُ إِلَى الصَّفَا، فَيَصْعَدُ عَلَيْهِ، وَيَسْتَقْبِلُ الْبَيْتَ، وَيُكَبِّرُ وَيُهَلِّلُ، وَيُصَلِّي عَلَى النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَيَدْعُو اللَّهَ تَعَالَى بِحَاجَتِهِ.
Translation: He then goes to Safa, ascends it, faces the House, says takbir and tahlil, sends blessings upon the Prophet, and supplicates to Allah for his needs.

After the arrival tawaf, the passage begins the rite of sa’y at Safa. Takbir magnifies Allah, tahlil affirms divine oneness, and salawat invokes blessings upon the Prophet.

The pilgrim turns toward the Kaaba and makes remembrance and personal supplication. Al-Quduri does not prescribe one exclusive long wording for the personal requests.

2. Legal status of sa’y

Sa’y consists of seven prescribed one-way traversals between Safa and Marwa. In Hanafi classification, it is a wajib act of Hajj—not merely a recommended arrival rite like tawaf al-qudum.

Other schools classify its essential status differently. The lesson follows the Hanafi framework of the source book.

3. The sequence at Safa

At Safa, face the Kaaba, make takbir and tahlil, send blessings on the Prophet, and supplicate. Then set off toward Marwa.

The standing remembrance and the journey to Marwa are distinct: the former is performed at the hill, while the latter is the first traversal of sa’y.

4. What ascending Safa means

The words fa-yaṣʿadu ʿalayhi describe ascending Safa. Historically this was a recognizable hill; the modern built environment has changed its access and levels.

Reaching the Safa area is the point. Dangerous climbing or blocking others is not a condition of the rite.

5. Vocabulary: Safa and sa’y

Al-Ṣafā and al-Marwa are the two named sites of the rite. The verb saʿā has a wider lexical sense of exerting oneself or moving purposefully; in Hajj it names a defined ritual traversal.

Istiqbāl means facing a direction—in this passage, turning toward the Kaaba.

6. Parsing the Safa sentence

Thumma marks the next stage. Yakhruju is an imperfect verb with the pilgrim as its understood subject. Ilā al-Ṣafā is a prepositional phrase indicating destination.

In fa-yaṣʿadu ʿalayhi, the prefix links the next action and the pronoun refers to Safa. Bi-ḥājatihi expresses the need being presented in supplication.

7. Toward Marwa and the green markers

ثُمَّ يَنْحَطُّ نَحْوَ الْمَرْوَةِ، وَيَمْشِي عَلَى هَيْئَتِهِ، فَإِذَا بَلَغَ إِلَى بَطْنِ الْوَادِي سَعَى بَيْنَ الْمِيلَيْنِ الْأَخْضَرَيْنِ سَعْيًا حَتَّى يَأْتِيَ الْمَرْوَةَ، فَيَصْعَدُ عَلَيْهَا، وَيَفْعَلُ كَمَا فَعَلَ عَلَى الصَّفَا، وَهَذَا شَوْطٌ.
Translation: He descends toward Marwa and walks normally; on reaching the valley bed, he moves briskly between the two green markers until proceeding to Marwa. There he ascends and repeats what he did at Safa. This counts as one traversal.

The text distinguishes ordinary walking from a brisker pace in the marked zone. For men, this corresponds to harwalah; it is not a direction to run over the entire route.

The phrase wa-hādhā shawṭun is decisive: Safa to Marwa counts as one traversal, not half a traversal.

8. Brisk movement versus normal walking

The pilgrim walks normally upon leaving Safa. Men increase their pace in the green-marked stretch and then resume normal walking to Marwa.

The markings indicate the former valley bed; present-day route lights identify this area. No one should push, collide or take an unsafe risk to achieve a brisk pace.

9. Walking pace for women

Women also perform the seven traversals, but Hanafi instructions do not apply the male brisk movement between the markers to women; they walk normally.

Al-Quduri later discusses women’s distinctive rules. Do not treat the male manner of brisk walking as a universal condition of valid sa’y.

10. What to do at Marwa

At Marwa the pilgrim repeats the remembrance and supplication described at Safa, as expressed in wa-yafʿalu kamā faʿala ʿalā al-Ṣafā.

Completing the first traversal does not complete the rite. The second traversal begins from Marwa and returns to Safa.

11. Vocabulary of the valley

Yanḥaṭṭu means to descend; baṭn al-wādī is the valley bed; al-mīlayn refers to two markers; al-akhḍarayn describes them as green.

Shawṭ in this context is a complete journey in one direction, not a round trip made up of two journeys.

12. Parsing al-milayn al-akhḍarayn

In bayna al-mīlayni al-akhḍarayni, bayna is an adverbial expression of location and the first element of an idafa. Al-mīlayni is a genitive dual noun with yāʾ.

Al-akhḍarayni is an agreeing adjective: dual, definite and genitive, describing the two green markers.

13. Seven traversals: Safa to Marwa

فَيَطُوفُ سَبْعَةَ أَشْوَاطٍ، يَبْتَدِئُ بِالصَّفَا، وَيَخْتِمُ بِالْمَرْوَةِ.
Translation: He completes seven traversals, beginning at Safa and finishing at Marwa.

The seven one-way traversals are distinct from seven circuits around the Kaaba during tawaf.

Sa’y starts at Safa and the seventh traversal finishes at Marwa. The count and starting point both matter.

14. A seven-traversal count

1: Safa → Marwa; 2: Marwa → Safa; 3: Safa → Marwa; 4: Marwa → Safa.
5: Safa → Marwa; 6: Marwa → Safa; 7: Safa → Marwa.

There are four Safa-to-Marwa trips and three Marwa-to-Safa trips. The seventh ends at Marwa.

15. The common counting error

A common mistake is to count Safa → Marwa → Safa as one traversal. The text instead calls the first Safa-to-Marwa movement one shawṭ.

Counting round trips instead of one-way movements produces the wrong total. Count each individual crossing.

16. How tawaf and sa’y connect

The preceding passage completes tawaf al-qudum and its two prayer units; this passage then proceeds to sa’y.

This is one recognized sequence, not a claim that every pilgrim in every form of Hajj must perform sa’y only at that point. The rites depend on the form of Hajj being performed.

17. Why its wajib status matters

In Hanafi law, sa’y is wajib. Omitting it or leaving it deficient has legal consequences and should not be treated like omitting an optional arrival rite.

Actual remedial rulings depend on how much was missed and on the pilgrim’s circumstances. A generic lesson should not invent an automatic penalty for every case.

18. Verb forms: begins and finishes

Yabtadiʾu is an imperfect verb from the root b-d-ʾ, “to begin.” Yakhtimu is also an imperfect verb, from kh-t-m, “to finish.”

Bi-l-Ṣafā identifies the start, while bi-l-Marwa identifies the endpoint.

19. Remaining in Mecca in ihram

ثُمَّ يُقِيمُ بِمَكَّةَ مُحْرِمًا، يَطُوفُ بِالْبَيْتِ كُلَّمَا بَدَا لَهُ، وَيُصَلِّي لِكُلِّ أُسْبُوعٍ رَكْعَتَيْنِ.
Translation: He then remains in Mecca in ihram, performs tawaf whenever he wishes, and prays two units for each completed set of seven circuits.

This is the pilgrim who remains in ihram during this stage, such as one performing ifrad or qiran. A pilgrim performing tamattu has a different sequence after completing the Umrah.

The word usbūʿ means one set of seven tawaf circuits here, not a calendar week. Two prayer units follow the completed set.

20. Does usbu mean a calendar week?

Usbūʿ can mean a week in everyday language, but in this legal context it refers to seven complete circuits of tawaf.

For example, after one voluntary tawaf of seven circuits, the pilgrim performs two prayer units. The text does not say to pray those units once a calendar week.

21. Voluntary tawaf is not repeated sa’y

After the prescribed seven traversals of sa’y, additional voluntary tawaf in Mecca is a separate activity. Yaṭūfu bi-l-bayt means circling the Kaaba, not repeating Safa–Marwa walks.

Both rites involve the number seven, but one consists of circuits and the other of one-way traversals.

22. Parsing muhriman and kullama

Muḥriman is an accusative circumstantial expression (ḥāl), indicating that the pilgrim remains in ihram. Bi-Makkata states the place of residence.

Kullamā badā lahu means whenever he wishes or it seems appropriate; it does not require nonstop tawaf.

23. The instruction sermon before Tarwiyah

فَإِذَا كَانَ قَبْلَ يَوْمِ التَّرْوِيَةِ بِيَوْمٍ خَطَبَ الْإِمَامُ خُطْبَةً يُعَلِّمُ النَّاسَ فِيهَا الْخُرُوجَ إِلَى مِنًى، وَالصَّلَاةَ بِعَرَفَاتَ، وَالْوُقُوفَ، وَالْإِفَاضَةَ.
Translation: On the day before Tarwiyah, the imam delivers a sermon explaining departure to Mina, prayer at Arafat, the standing, and the onward departure.

Tarwiyah is 8 Dhu al-Hijjah, so the preceding day is 7 Dhu al-Hijjah. The sermon prepares the pilgrims for the following rites.

Wuqūf refers to the prescribed standing at Arafat, and ifāḍah to departing from the gathering. Detailed Arafat rulings are reserved for the next lesson.

24. Purpose of the pre-Tarwiyah sermon

The purpose is explicitly yuʿallimu al-nās—to teach the pilgrims the order of the rites. It addresses the route, prayer, the standing and onward movement.

This is on the day before the 8 Dhu al-Hijjah departure to Mina, not the sermon delivered at Arafat on the following day.

25. Vocabulary: wuquf and ifadah

Al-wuqūf is a verbal noun from w-q-f, “to stand/remain”; at Arafat it designates the prescribed standing.

Al-ifāḍah is a Form IV verbal noun used here for departing onward from the gathering. The word denotes movement away, not simply arrival.

26. Parsing the sermon sentence

In khaṭaba al-imāmu khuṭbatan, the verb is past tense, al-imāmu is the nominative subject, and khuṭbatan is the accusative object.

In yuʿallimu al-nāsa fīhā, the verb is imperfect, al-nāsa is its object, and fīhā refers back to the sermon.

27. Departure to Mina on Tarwiyah

فَإِذَا صَلَّى الْفَجْرَ يَوْمَ التَّرْوِيَةِ بِمَكَّةَ خَرَجَ إِلَى مِنًى، فَأَقَامَ بِهَا حَتَّى يُصَلِّيَ الْفَجْرَ يَوْمَ عَرَفَةَ.
Translation: After praying Fajr in Mecca on the Day of Tarwiyah, he travels to Mina and remains there until he prays Fajr on the Day of Arafah.

The source describes praying Fajr in Mecca on 8 Dhu al-Hijjah, proceeding to Mina, and remaining until Fajr on 9 Dhu al-Hijjah. This lays out the traditional recommended sequence.

The subsequent journey to Arafat is the next sentence of al-Quduri and belongs to Level 083.

28. Tarwiyah and Arafah are different days

8 Dhu al-Hijjah: Tarwiyah — departure to and stay in Mina.
9 Dhu al-Hijjah: Arafah — the prescribed standing at Arafat.

The two names refer to distinct days and actions. Staying in Mina on the eighth is not a substitute for the standing at Arafat on the ninth.

29. A chronological summary

7 Dhu al-Hijjah: the imam’s teaching sermon.
8 Dhu al-Hijjah: Tarwiyah, Fajr and departure to Mina, followed by a stay there.
9 Dhu al-Hijjah: Fajr in Mina, then onward to Arafat (next level).

Keep these three dates separate to avoid mixing the sermon, Mina stay, and Arafat standing.

30. Status of the Mina stay

This passage sets out the recommended ritual sequence of departing for and staying in Mina. Missing part of that stay does not by itself mean the essential standing at Arafat was also missed.

Hajj pillars and recommended actions differ in legal weight. Real exceptional cases require the specific details rather than a blanket ruling.

31. Parsing the Mina departure

In kharaja ilā Minā, kharaja is past tense and the prepositional phrase gives the destination. In fa-aqāma bihā, the pronoun refers to Mina.

Ḥattā yuṣalliya expresses the endpoint; the verb is subjunctive after ḥattā, and the endpoint is Fajr on the ninth.

32. Consolidated review

The teaching sequence is: Safa after arrival tawaf, remembrance and dua, the first Safa-to-Marwa traversal, men’s brisk walk in the marked zone, remembrance at Marwa, and completing seven traversals.

Next come the Mecca stay for a pilgrim remaining in ihram, optional tawaf, the teaching sermon on the seventh, and departure to Mina on the eighth. Detailed Arafat rulings are outside this level.